THE OREGON RUFFED GROUSE. 



589 



At the foot of a maple in some swamp}' thicket, or close beside a 

 tallen log, the female scrapes a slight depression in the earth, lining it 

 roughly with tlead lea\es and a few small twigs. In this she places eight 

 or ten eggs, buff or faintly ruddy, sparingly spotted with pale brownish 

 or bufifv red. As she lea\'es the nest, she does so a-wing, causing the 

 surrounding leaves to flutter carelessly over her eggs. If the eggs are 



Taken near Taconui. Photo by the Author. 



XEST .\XD EGGS OF OREGON' KfFFED GROUSE. 



molested, she will either desert outright or else break up the polluted 

 clutch. If, Imwever, she only suspects that her secret may be known, she 

 is at great pains to cover u]) her treasures with leaves and trash each time 

 she quits them. 



In caring for the brood the mother bird exhibits the utmost solicitude. 



